DDFJ_11-12-2009

Why don't I write everyday, like I was for a while? Hmm, that is an interesting question indeed. I guess it is because I lack discipline, or maybe because I feel I have other things that I am doing that seem to be between me and the writing. I used to write a lot, but now it seems it is really sporadic. I really need to write more often.

So anyway, what's going on with the farm. Well not much to report on the farm really, at least as it stands now. We have been offered a farm lock stock and barrel so to speak. Well the cows, and feed, plus a lease on the barn, at least until spring, when we will buy a near by farm and continue from there. Now I only have to get the money to buy everything, and I need to move quickly, so I can get this running on before winter really hits hard. What I need is for someone to come in as my partner with some money and good credit, so that we can get this show going. I have the contract to sell the milk, and the offer to buy the farm, now I need a good partner who is willing to come on with some cash and run with the plan. Okay so I am a little short on the plan now, as the previous plan does not apply, and I haven't really wrote a new one yet.

This is an opportunity for the FSA to actually help me out, but it is doubtful that they will, even though they indicate that they have the farm start type of program just for such a situation. I can only hope that they will see the opportunity and understand that the loss of another farm will not be good for the economy, and if we don't buy it, it will be lost.

As far as the future is concerned, well that is still up to the wind. No really, once we have purchased this farm, we will operate it from its current location until spring, and then we will have to refinance to buy the farm down the road. When we buy that farm, we will need to cut cost every where, so we will look to building wind power on the farm to cut our input cost. We have other plans though for the farm. We will increase the diversity by many fold to decrease our exposure to economic factors. We will buy 10 Tamrac sows and a boar to produce pork and piglets (which will be increasing in demand in the near future). We will buy an additional 9 Sanien goats, and 10 Oberhalsi goats (does) and a few Nubian goats to round out our dairy herd and for pasture health. We will buy 40 sheep to provide fleeces and lambs for market. We will also fill out our chickens with about 60 more standard egg breeds, although for the most part we will be looking at heritage breeds. We will also purchase about 10 Muscovy ducks, added to our current ducks and chickens for pest control and pasture health.

We will also be buying Milking Devon cattle, Kerry Cattle, and a few other dairy cattle, to begin to build the dairy herd towards 100 head of cattle by January of 2011. To assist in the animal control we will be looking to acquire two more boarder collies (females only) and at least two horses, Belgian would be preferred as I would like them for farm work, although we will also use a tractor for some of the work, we will do as much as we can with the horses.

I still have some pretty ambitious plans, but we can do this if we can just get started. The hardest part seems to be finding a partner that will ride with us to make this happen. I am not asking for much, but I am not doing much to find that partner either, so I guess that may be why we haven't found them yet. I have to be more social, something I am not very good at. I need to write more, in the hope that maybe I can write enough to support the farm until the farm can support its own growth.

Well that's all for now, have a pleasant day.

DDFJ_09-12-2009

Doud Dairy Farm Journal
Saturday, September 12, 2009

Well we didn't move the fence again today, but we did get four (4) eggs. So the production reds are at least producing. I got about 2/3 the shelter built, and will finish it today. So that's the scoop for the day, at least as far as the farm is concerned. At least the animals got out for a while yesterday, so they could eat well, and swim and all that, although getting the chickens back in was a bit of a chore. I still have the nest to build, and roost to install in the shelter, and other such modifications. There doesn't seem to be enough branches to cut, but I have only just begun I guess. We really need to move the animals to our new land, but we are still waiting on the final agreement to be drawn up. I hope it don't take to much longer, because winter is coming, and I am pretty certain it is going to be a rather cold and nasty one this year.

The truth is Spring is coming soon too. We are not even ready for that either. We don't have a planting schedule, or a place to start plants. No green house this year, so we will have to start plants in the house and barn, and build beds where we can set them in high tunnels to hopefully get a jump on the season, because we don't have a lot of season. We will however be able to plant lots of greens as we will have great amounts of shade so we will be able to grow greens quite late if we set them in strategic places. Our market crops are a big part of our income for next year, so we will have to figure out how to obtain the seed and get things going early. I want lots of tomatoes set. Mostly heirloom Brandywines, but we should have lots of plum type tomatoes too, because they are the blood of sauces and other tomato based products. I need to ensure that we will have the buyers for the Brandywines, so we can be certain that if we set them, they will be valuable. Next Spring we will build a green house, and grow Brandywines early and late, as we will heat part of the green house to create a sudo hot house. I want to produce about three cases a week for our wholesale customers, plus some for the market. We will also have to produce greens, mostly romaine lettuce and custom greens for our wholesale customers, but we should be able to provide these without much trouble. I will get commitments from our wholesale customers in the form of deposits which should cover our seed cost. We most likely will not have organic status for three years, so we will have to get by on lower cost, unless we can get Eddy to agree to sign an affidavit that no chemicals have been used on the property for at least the last five years.

We also won't have a proper parlor in the barn as we will building a basic New England style barn, with just tie stalls for milking using a swing system with 2” pipeline to a bulk tank in the milk house addition.The barn will be 20'x40' with a 10'x12' milk house addition. Although this diagram doesn't show it very well it has a six tie stall parlor, a storage room and two box stalls. It also includes a free stall and a hay loft. There are four of the cubicles on the roof that act as vents, and will include exhaust fans that can be opened or closed to control venting of the barn. This will not be the final barn, and the installation of the parlor is temporary, in that we will be building a much bigger free stall barn which will have a ATO ARM herringbone style parlor and multi-tank milk house connected by pipeline to the creamery. This barn will then be used for heifers and other animals as well as hay storage. We will also build a horse and machinery barn which will be attached to an indoor paddock which will double as a show ring area. The new barn will be a New England style barn as well in keeping with the current look of the first barn. The horse barn will also be a NE style barn, with a round indoor paddock addition. The green houses will also reflect this same NE style to maintain the basic look of the farm. I had considered the gamble roof style, but the complexity and cost of the trusses would make it difficult to build at least at first, so we will continue to use the NE style just to maintain the look of the farm.

Well that's the plan anyways. I will maybe go into the house/cabin later. I still haven't decided if I will build a salt box style, or cape cod style. Either way, we may build a small cabin >1000' to begin with, and then later once we have purchased the property build a more substantial house. We will also be building dedicated buildings, such as a mill, a soap factory, a forage/kiln/bakery/cannery and some other special buildings which will be used for special purposes. Well that's it for now, I have work to do and daylight is burning.

Peace.

Doud Dairy Farm Journal

Doud Dairy Farm Journal
Sunday, September 06, 2009

I missed a couple of days, with all that has been going on. I am not sure where I left off, but I think I didn't write entries for the fifth and the fourth, and the third is on another computer, waiting to be loaded to Frontier Spirit blog. So anyway, today we got a late start because I had a couple of things to do at the house, and we had to pick up Justin, my step-son and Arleta's youngest son. We went out to look at the property, and it is basically just woods and a couple of trails running through it. I am ready to provide Eddy with an offer. We will offer him 450.00 a month for 6 months, with an option to purchase at the end of the lease terms. We will then discuss the building thing, as we will offer to build a small barn and a cabin on the property, as well as dig a well. We will use this as equity if we buy the property in the spring, but if we do end the contract in spring we will leave the buildings, thereby providing him with more value for his property. I talked a minute with the next door neighbor, and he says they have 88 acres, so there may be potential for purchasing more property in the future. This would be good to discuss with Eddy as well. In lieu of a security deposit we will dig the well and put in a septic system, as well as build the buildings, which will benefit him if we leave the property. If we do decide to purchase the property in the spring, we will offer him $1,000.00 an acre or $44,000.00 plus what we have paid him for the rent.

Well now we have to see if he accepts the deal we present. Or if he comes back with a counter offer, we will have to consider that as well. I want to talk with him about the additional acres, to see if we can include that in the spring purchase option.

As far as the animals are concerned well, last week I couldn't get a chicken at all and this week we are in the process of buying chickens from everywhere. We bought 6 last night (RIR) from Williamstown, and we will be buying another 7 or 8 today from Homer. Now we will have 16 RIR chickens, and if we can get the 11 Orpingtons we will have the 20+ chickens we need to winter over with.

All the other animals (Goats, Ducks) are doing well, and getting fat on the land.

I need a truck, as there is just to much that I could do with a truck that would be helpful that I can not do with the Kia. Although the Kia is cute and it really is a nice vehicle, and all that, it will not accommodate the needs that a truck will. That or I need to get the Kia fixed, and a tow hitch attached so we can pull a trailer. I like the trailer idea, because a trailer is more versatile than just a truck, but it may be easier to get a truck than fix the Kia at this point.

That's all for now, more tomorrow when I get everything in its place.

Peace.

"How a city was built, starting with a hobby: Baker Creek--a seed house that is changing the course of history"

Goss, Jeffery, Jr. 2008 How a city was built, starting with a hobby: Baker Creek--a seed house that is changing the course of history The Free Library (January, 1), http://www.thefreelibrary.com/How a city was built, starting with a hobby: Baker Creek--a seed...-a0172830071 (accessed October 30 2008)

This article describes a operation that was started by a young person who felt the need for a change. This is how a need can be turned into a business that can be successful. I guess what can be said about it is that he started on a farm, so it would be more difficult if you were to attempt to begin such an operation with out having a family farm to begin from, but it should be possible.

This will be cited in our business plan.

Small Farms Cultivate Way of Life, and Profit

NY Times article on profits being made by small part time farmers. A trend that appears to be developing in the suburban landscape. People are trying to farm even on small 3+/- acres and many are successful at turning a profit, but is it really farming? This is yet to be discovered trend that should be investigated further. It does however demonstrate that profit can be found even in this small scale, and that can be applied to a larger more diversified farming operation.